Iraq sweats in near-record heatwave
Government offices have been shut and streets
have emptied in Iraq as summer temperatures hit 53C (127F), nearing the highest
recorded in the country.
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A roadside shower provides relief from the heatwave in Baghdad
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The heat has
been compounded by chronic power shortages, depriving homes of electricity for
large parts of the day.
The conditions
have placed a particular strain on Iraqis displaced by an assault on Falluja, a
UN official said.
Average
temperatures in June were the highest
recorded worldwide - a rise attributed to greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the combined average
temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for June was 0.9C above the
20th Century average of 15.5C.
The heatwave in
Iraq prompted the closure of all government offices on Wednesday and Thursday,
the last days of the working week, and brought life to a standstill in many
parts of the country.
The soaring temperatures,
coupled with shortages of drinking water and electricity, have made life harder
for Iraqis displaced by a military
assault on Falluja, a town formerly held by so-called Islamic State
militants.
A UN spokeswoman
who visited two camps for the displaced this week told the BBC that many
residents were only "grabbing one or two hours of sleep a night"
because of the heat.
Caroline Gluck,
from UN refugee agency UNHCR, said people at camps in Habbaniya and Amiriyat
al-Falluja were trying to keep cool by moistening their clothes.
She added that
many families had only brought one set of clothes with them. Several residents
had developed pus-filled sores, she said, possibly as a result of the heat and
inadequate hygiene.
Near-record
temperatures have also been reported in neighbouring Kuwait. Across the region,
social media users have been tweeting about the heat.
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